Forsaken is directed by Jon Cassar and written by Brad Mirman. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Michael Wincott, Aaron Poole and Demi Moore. Music is by Jonathan Goldsmith and cinematography by Rene Ohashi.

There's a group of words bandied around for this one such as generic, cliché and formulaic, and most assuredly these can not be argued about. For this is very much an old style traditional Western, the plot featuring a retired gunslinger being pushed into action again - while he tries to reconcile with his estranged father - is a hard core staple of 1950s Westerns. But what is wrong with having a traditional Western in this day and age as long as it's produced with skill and grace? The answer for Western lovers is nothing at all.

This is a beautifully mounted picture, fronted by father and son Sutherland's - which adds heartfelt emotion to their scenes together - and boosted by gorgeous cinematography (making it a Blu-ray must),it's a genre piece of worth. Crucially it knows what it wants to be, it has no pretence to be anything other than a traditional Oater for lovers of such. The villains are sneery and scenery chewers - apart from Wincott who is a gentleman dandy type - and the good guy is wonderfully broody and reflective. Pacing is fine, the story has good drama and the finale excites as we hope it should.

In summary, nothing new here of course (except maybe Cox's out of place language!),so expectation of such would be foolhardy, but a smashing Western it be. 7/10

It's the first film together for Keifer and Donald Sutherland, playing father and son who have been estranged for a while and are reunited after the death of Kiefer's mother and Donald's wife. Keifer was once known as a fast shot, but he has put away his guns in his efforts to turn his life around. But it's obvious he's going to need these weapons again as his father's Community is being harassed by land baron Brian Cox's vile gang who has no hesitation in violently killing people who refuse to sell their land cheaply to them.

I don't know what kind of filters they used in the photography, if they use them at all, but there is something very moody in the way that this is filmed, and that element makes it gorgeous. Most of the colors inside seem to be pastels, but when the camera focuses on dozens of trees together, the greens are very vibrant and the vista is stunning. Demi Moore has a nice supporting role as Keifer's old girlfriend who is now married and mother of a young son. She is photographed as slightly weather-beaten but still attractive, and she really looks the part a woman in the old west. Nice to see her loosen up her glamour and be real.

The film itself is very violent, a dark reminder that classic Hollywood westerns didn't always show the hardships people in the middle of nowhere faced. Cox and his gang are villains with no remorse, not only content to beat someone senseless, but shooting at their victims in a way that stuns them at first before they go in for the real kill. It is shocking and repulsive, but the film doesn't hesitate to show the viewer what these innocent farmers were up against.

Both Sutherlands are very good, and as their estrangement decreases, Keifer realizes that he at least has two temporarily pull his guns back out to fight for what's right. It's ironic that for a film that is so physically violent that the characters have a soft way of speaking, even when everything around them seems Blake. That makes it much more powerful than had it been more loud and angry. Subtlety really controls the mood here, and for that, I give this a higher rating than I might have otherwise.

Like Kirk and Michael Douglas, Donald and Kiefer Sutherland waited far too long to team up for a film. Forsaken casts them as a frontier preacher and his gunfighter son who wants to give it up and settle down and work the family farm with dad. But there's a lot that has passed between them, a lot of misunderstanding and judgmental behavior ever since Kiefer went off to war and didn't return. He also left behind Demi Moore who up and married Christopher Rosamond and has a son with him.

This is an old fashioned western in its villains because back when all those poverty row studios were churning out B westerns the way Ford did Model Ts, the town banker in New Deal Days was always the villain. Brian Cox portrayed this villainous town banker with real relish, stopping short of twirling the mustache like Snidely Whiplash.

Donald played a three dimensional preacher with both faults and strengths and resisted the temptation to make his role a caricature. Kiefer Sutherland is a Jimmy Stewart like western hero who the locality depends on to be the strong man who stands up to the villains.

Like in John Wayne's classic El Dorado, Cox like villain Edward Asner in El Dorado doesn't use a gun, he 'hires it done'. Cox has a stable of gunfighters to enforce his will, but one of them is a professional played by Michael Wincott. Wincott and Sutherland have a mutual respect between professionals the way John Wayne had with Christopher George in El Dorado.

For those who like old fashioned westerns like me, Forsaken is your type of film.